Negros Wetlands & Waterbird Summit 2017

“Negros Wetlands and Waterbirds Conservation Their Future is Our Future”

Provincial Capitol Negros Occidental, Philippines

REPORT

Philip Godfrey Jakosalem, Lisa J. Paguntalan, Christine Mansinares and Kevin Colacion

Executive Summary

Regional Director For. Livino Duran of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Negros Island Region on his welcome address.

The Negros Wetlands and Waterbird Summit: Negros Wetlands and Waterbirds Conservation Their Future is Our Future, convened in Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol Social Hall, Negros Occidental, Philippines 17 May 2017, brought together 50 participants form the representatives from local government units, research, civil society and non-government organizations during the celebration of the World Migratory Bird Day 2017. The Summit was hosted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Negros Island Region (DENR NIR), the Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc. (PBCFI), the Provincial Management Office (PEMO), and the Negros Occidental Tourism Division (NOTD) in collaboration with Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) with funds support from the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership. The Summit sought to lay the foundations for new and continued wetland stakeholder dialogue, transitions toward sustainable tourism products and investments, and further research to support evidence-based policy making, all directed toward achieving reasonable conservation and more sustainable management of wetlands in the newest Ramsar site in Negros.

The summit concluded that:

To achieve reasonable and sustainable conservation of Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area, all stakeholder must work together to achieve conservation goals.

Harmonization’s of plans and programs within different government organizations and to be incorporated to the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area management plan.

Conduct inventory of tourism products in each local government units and the potential ecotourism enterprise

A wider wetlands and wetlands summit will be held during the first anniversary celebration of the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area Ramsar Site.

Negros Wetlands and Waterbird Summit

Philip Godfrey Jakosalem1, Lisa J. Paguntalan1, Christine Mansinares2 and Kevin Colacion3

Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Negros Island Region Negros Occidental Tourism Division

Background

Group photo of the participants of 2017 wetlands and waterbirds summit held at the Capitol Social Hall, Bacolod City.

The participants are coming from the local government units within the wetlands.

Wetlands come in all shapes and forms, from rivers, estuaries, white and grey sandy coastal wetlands, ponds and inland lakes. They are essentially important ecosystems that provide many important services to the environment and society. The Wetlands functions, they play a critical role in groundwater recharge, flood attenuation, improvement of water quality, biodiversity and most of the economic value to the local community. The contribution of Negros wetlands to biodiversity has been internationally recognized through their designation as Ramsar sites (Ramsar site no 2217) the seventh in the country and the fourth East Asian Australasian Flyway Network site in the country.

Conservation of wetlands and waterbirds is widely considered to be crucial for sustainable development and society. To achieve conservation of wetlands and waterbirds, local conservation organizations and government agencies must translate scientific knowledge into local knowledge so that it is understandable to non-scientific communities. The wetlands and waterbirds conservation is also looking at the effectiveness and efficiencies of wetlands management and conservation. However, it is also important to share the highlight the standards in making conservation in different place working the same conservation activities. There are programmes from other partners may help specific management concerns and also provide clear state of biodiversity and contribute to national of local policies.

To address these issues the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Negros Island Region

(DENR NIR), the Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc. (PBCFI), the Provincial

Management Office (PEMO), the Negros Occidental Tourism Division and Negros Occidental Coastal

Wetlands Areas Management Council (NOCWAMA), different local government unit (LGU) of Negros

and other network of partners will come together for forum in title “Negros Wetlands and

Waterbirds Conservation Their Future is Our Future” and share different knowledge and experience

in working in on wetlands conservation. Thus this symposium aims to gather together the different

local government units, wetlands conservationist and partners from the island.

This summit aims to promote cooperation around the management of wetlands as an important

platform in conservation, awareness and strengthened partnerships between different wetlands and

waterbirds conservation, government organization and non-organizations in the wise use of

wetlands within the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Areas and other key

important wetlands in Negros Island Region. The summits will provide insight on plans and programs

geared towards global wetlands conservation targets. Specifically the objectives are the following:

1. To bring together experts from the field, practitioners and mandated institutions working on wetlands and waterbirds conservation for a forum and stepping up the conservation of wetlands and waterbirds.

2. To document different tourism potential enterprise, initiatives in wetlands conservation and identify gaps and opportunities for future collaborations

3. To create a network of technical experts in waterbirds and wetlands conservation support within different partnerships.

4. To provide a forum to different partner’s conservation NGO’s, professionals, scientist, conservationist, to share knowledge on various aspect in the conserving wetlands and waterbirds.

Speakers

Regional Director For. Livino Duran of the express his interest that all the stakeholders must work together for the

conservation of wetlands.

The Wetlands Summit featured a line-up of speakers that included the Chief, Provincial Environment

Management Officer Negros Occidental Atty. Wilfred Ramon Peñalosa of the Province of Negros,

Protected Areas Specialist Department of Environment and Natural Resources Negros Island Region

For. Rujonel Cariaga, Ms. Christine Mansinares the Chief, Negros Occidental Tourism Division,

Province of Negros and Ms. Lisa Paguntalan Executive Director Philippines Biodiversity Conservation

Foundation, Inc. (PBCFI) talks about the future directions of our wetlands. The organizers of the

summit made every effort to ensure that the program gave space to technical experts and

practitioners, and that speakers were equally distributed across different line agencies and

stakeholder groups and gender in the province.

In his welcoming address, Regional Director Livino Duran noted the significance of the timing, pointing to the critical decisions affecting the future plans and programs of our wetland is very important he said. Director Duran added that we need to work together for the management of these important wetlands. He also mentioned about how important this wetlands to the local communities.

Our first speaker is Forester Rujonel Cariaga Protected Areas Specialist from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Negros Island Region. He presented how the Negros Occidental Coastal Areas Conservation Areas started and the plans and programs that the DENR. He mentioned that the wetlands of Negros Occidental was started by the initiatives of Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc. during the conducting the Asian Waterbird Count in the south central part of Negros Occidental. The results of the count were then presented to the province lead Center for Environmental Initiates (CEI) Forum organized by the Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO), a quarterly forum on the environment within the province. He also mentioned that the Biodiversity Management Bureau also recognizes the efforts from the DENR and partners by identifying the wetland as Wetlands of International Importance. Mr. Cariaga also mentioned that the different local government units lead by the province the Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO) together with Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc., University of St LaSalle Bacolod and the tem local government units from Bago City, municipality of Pulupandan, Valladolid, San Enrique, Pontevedra, Hinigaran, Binalbagan, City of Himamaylan, City of Kabankalan and the municipality of Ilog form an alliance called the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Areas Management Council (NOCWAMA) this is the council who will oversee the implementation of plan and programs of the newest Ramsar Site. Then he mentioned the recognition of the wetlands with at least 230,00 hectares lies along 10 kilometres coastline of

Negros the seventh Ramsar Site in the Philippines on the 20th day of October 2016 and then few months after the wetlands was recognized as the fourth East Asian-Australasian Flyway Network

site on the 5th January 2017 by the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership.

DENR NIR Protected Area Specialist Forester Rujonel Cariaga presented the history of the Negros Occidental Coastal

Wetlands Conservation Area the latest Ramsar site in the country

Mr Cariaga also presented the plan and programs of the DENR NIR for the region; they are implementing different programs within the coastal areas like the Coastal and Maine Ecosystems Management Program (CMEMP), Sustainable Coral Reef Ecosystem Management Program

(SCREMP), Integrated Coastal Management (ICM), Marine Turtle Conservation, Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structure (ARMS), Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) and Conservation of Wetlands. He also mentions the plan of the department in conducting a survey of the foreshore and management planning within the year.

The next speaker is from the Province of Negros Occidental, the chief of the Provincial Environment

Management Officer Atty. Wilfred Ramon Peñalosa. Atty. Peñalosa presented the plans and

programs of the province in terms of the Ramsar site particularly the coastal environment program

they been implementing in the province. He mentioned the Coastal Management Program of the

province includes resource assessment and inventory, resource regulations and utilization, resources

conservation and rehabilitation and resource protection as part of the framework plan of the

province and adopted by the different local government units. The framework plan is also

implemented by the different local government units through its comprehensive land-use plan. The

province also initiated building of alliances in coastal conservation includes Southern Negros Coastal

Development Council (SNCDMC), Kabankalan-Himamaylan-Ilog Integrated Coastal Area

Management Council (KAHIL-ICAMC), Central Negros Council for Coastal Resources Development

(CENECCORD) and Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Area Management Alliance (NOCWAMA)

where the Ramsar site was located. Alliance has played a major role in coastal resources

conservation, protection and conflict resolution between and among LGU-members, specifically

those related to municipal water boundaries dispute.

He also mention about their project on the Protected Areas Enhancement and Management funded

by the GIZ and DENR which implementing resources inventory, survey and mapping, survey of

household occupants, capacity building trained different partners on coastal law informant and

creation of Local Conservation Areas (LCA) within the Ramsar site.

Provincial Environment Management Officer Chief Atty. Wilfred Ramon Peñalosa discusses the province direction

towards the conservation of wetlands.

The provincial environment office will also update the 5 years development plants of the three

alliances Kabankalan-Himamaylan-Ilog Integrated Coastal Area Management Council (KAHIL-ICAMC),

Central Negros Council for Coastal Resources Development (CENECCORD) and Negros Occidental

Coastal Wetlands Area Management Alliance (NOCWAMA). Atty. Wilmon reiterated that partnership

is the way forward in the conservation our wetlands.

The last speaker is Ms. Christine Mansinares the Senior Tourism Officer, Negros Occidental Tourism

Division of Negros Occidental. Her talk is about the potential of the wetlands for ecotourism and

different products that are sustainably produce in the wetlands. Wetlands provide important natural

resources, upon which can help rural economy. They provide many substantial benefits not only to

local society, but also to the people who live far away from them. They are recognised globally for

their vital role in sustaining a wide array of biodiversity and providing goods and services and also as

important sources of natural resources, upon which the rural economies depends. According to Ms

Mansinares wetlands provide a wide range of tangible benefits and products to various

communities. The tangible benefits include water for domestic use and watering of rice paddies,

support to dry season agriculture, provision of handicrafts, building materials, and food resources

such as fish and other marine resources. Wetlands also serve as habitats for important flora and

fauna, have aesthetic and heritage values, and contain stocks of biodiversity of potentially for the

birdwatching. List of potential wetlands product will be submitted by the different local government

units within the important wetlands. The tourism will help and develop strategies in wetland

including ecotourism strategy, marketing strategy and product strategy, pricing strategy and

promotion strategy were proposed. It is hoped that the application of these strategies combination

could foster the market of our wetland ecotourism and enrich the tourism products.

Ms. Christine Mansinares the Senior Tourism Officer, Negros Occidental Tourism Division of Negros Occidental

presented the potential ecotourism wetlands products of Negros Island.

Summit Outcome

The moving forward and open forum was facilitated by the Executive Director PBCFI Ms. Lisa

Paguntalan pointed out some of the challenges associated with the wetlands conservation. The

speaker in the closing plenary session reflected on the discussions throughout the days and

identified further commitments to new and continued multi-stakeholder conservation of the

wetlands, research and investments in sustainable tourism products.

Executive Director PBCFI Ms. Lisa Paguntalan facilitated the open forum on the next step in the conservation of the

Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area

Here are some of the identified activities and plans for the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands

Conservation Areas.

Continue on the monitoring of the waterbirds and the threats related to the wetlands

Laid down different plans for different institutions e.g. foreshore lease plans of DENR, the Provincial environment plans for the three alliances Kabankalan-Himamaylan-Ilog Integrated Coastal Area Management Council (KAHIL-ICAMC), Central Negros Council for Coastal Resources Development (CENECCORD) and Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Area Management Alliance (NOCWAMA)

Provide training on birdwatching tourism project by the Negros Occidental Tourism Division Conduct research and assessment of potential wetland tourism products

Conduct more information and awareness program on the importance of wetlands of Negros

Conduct a bigger wetlands summit during the first anniversary of the Negros Occidental Coastal Areas Conservation Areas

Acknowledgement

Summit organizers would like to thank the East Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership for the funding

support for the Negros wetlands and waterbird summit. We also would like to thank Biodiversity

Management Bureau DENR for the support and endorsing the project. The Department of

Environment and Natural Resources Negros Island Region Regional director for the trust and support

for the program, the DENR Conservation and Development Division chief Engr. Rene Abordo and

staff, the Negros Island Tourism Division and Province of Negros Occidental for accommodating our

request for the venue, the Provincial Environment Management Office, and Negros Occidental

Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area Management Council. The organizers would like to thank

several individual for making the summit possible Mr Anson Tagtag of BMB, Ms Olive Seruelo, For.

Rosie Pablico, For. Rujonel Cariaga, former DENR NIR regional Director Al Orolfo and Ms Grafe Rose

Arbado of DENR NIR. Also thank you to all the stakeholders from different local government units

and communities and wetland resource users for coming to the summit.

Programme

Schedule Program of Activities Resource Person

08:30AM Registration DENR PBCFI 09:30AM Opening Program DENR PBCFI

National Anthem / Invocation Prayer

DENR PBCFI

Welcome Remarks Livino Duran Regional Director DENR NIR

Message Ms. Lisa Paguntalan Executive Director PBCFI

Introduction of participants EMCEE 11:00AM DENR Plans and program Rujonel Cariaga

Protected Areas Specialist DENR

11:30AM Province Initiatives Atty. Wilfred Ramon Peñalosa Chief, Provincial Environment Management Officer Negros

Occidental 11:31AM Tourism Potentials Ms. Christine Mansinares

Chief, Negros Occidental Tourism Division

12:00NN Lunch 01:00PM Moving Forward Ms. Lisa Paguntalan

Executive Director PBCFI 02:00PM Open Forum Ms. Lisa Paguntalan

Executive Director PBCFI